Princess Alexandra has visited HMS Warrior to mark the 30th anniversary of the Victorian battleship's return to Portsmouth.

Princess Alexandra is Patron of HMS Warrior Preservation Trust and last visited in 2015 to formally open the Heritage Lottery Funded (HLF) Project.

The Project will allow vital repair works that will secure the future of the ship, which is one of the most influential warships ever built.

HMS Warrior has a longstanding Royal connection – in 1863 Warrior escorted the Royal yacht that brought Princess Alexandra's great-grandmother, Princess Alexandra of Denmark, to Britain to marry the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII).

Princess Alexandra, the future Queen Alexandra, requested that the Admiral Sir Michael Seymour convey that "she was much pleased" with the conduct of the ship's crew. The message was engraved on a brass plate fitted to the ships wheel and can still be seen there today.

Did you know?

In 1959, at the age of 22, the Princess carried out her first solo overseas tour to Australia, and attended the Queensland Centenary Celebrations. The visit was so popular that 'The Alexandra Waltz' was written in Her Royal Highness's honour by prolific Queensland composer Clyde Collins and later in 1960 the Diamantina Hospital was renamed Princess Alexandra Hospital in honour of her visit